Finding A Flat
by MissingMommy
Summary: Three years have passed since Charlie and Draco have last seen each other. : "As Charlie rambles about Apparation-sickness, Draco realizes just how much Charlie is a Weasley". preslash of sorts CharlieDraco.


Charlie sits with a coffee in his hands. A blonde-haired woman sits to his right, talking absently about the new dragon they have on the reserve. But when the door opens, Charlie loses interest in the conversation. Instead, he becomes very aware of the new arrival in his favorite coffee shop.

The woman touches his shoulder lightly to grab his attention. When he focuses his blue eyes on her, she grins. "You didn't tell me he was hot," she says, her voice thick with a French accent.

That earns her a blush, but Charlie quickly hides it. "You were too excited about hearing I might have met someone for me to possibly tell you what he looked like," he replies quickly.

"And he's a Malfoy," she notes. Charlie gives her a questioning look. "I've heard about the Malfoys a time or two before. They used to have a summer place near my house. But they haven't been to it in years. At least, not since he was young," she nods towards Draco.

Charlie balances staring at Draco and keeping up with his conversation with the woman next to him. Draco orders coffee and slides the man behind the counter a galleon. Taking his drink, he takes the seat across from Charlie without hesitation.

_That shut her up_, Charlie notes as he greets him. "Draco," he says because he has nothing else better to say.

Draco apparently stumbles for the right words to say to Charlie. He's about to refer to Charlie as "Weasley", but then he recalls that calling Charlie by his last name would be very ill-mannered. So he settles on, "Charlie," with a slightly nod of his head. And Draco's not even sure why he is trying to act mannered because it's just coincidence that they're even in the same coffee shop.

Charlie nods towards the woman next to him. "That's Zoelie. A coworker," he introduces her.

"Charlie, I can introduce myself, you know?" She sends a glare at Charlie, before extending her hand towards the man. "Hello, I'm Zoe."

Draco takes ahold of her hand and kisses the back of it. "It's a pleasure, Zoe. Draco Malfoy," he says, letting go of her hand.

"Well, I must be off. My shift starts in half an hour," she states, getting up.

A confused look passes Charlie's features but he doesn't say anything. The look, however, doesn't go unnoticed by Draco. Zoe leans over and presses a kiss to his cheek before disappearing out the door.

Draco doesn't speak as he sips his coffee. But Charlie enjoys talking so he has to fill the silence. "What has it been? Three, four years since I last saw you?" he questions.

Draco smirks. "Three," he replies.

"Found any interesting places over the years?" By the moment of surprise flickering across Draco's eyes, Charlie knows Draco wasn't expecting him to remember that he was travelling.

But Draco quickly hides the surprise. "Yes," he says. "But I think Romania is the best. That's why I came back."

Charlie grins. "And here I was thinking you came back for the company."

Draco fights the urge to roll his eyes. "Do you know of any place I could rent? I think I want to stay a while." Draco isn't sure why he's telling this to Charlie, but there's something about him that makes Draco want to tell him _everything_.

"Most of the Wizarding houses and flats are on the reservation and are for the dragon-tamers. But there are some Wizarding flats not too far from here. I'm heading back to mine so I can take you by, if you would like," Charlie offers.

"Can't you live on the reservation?" Draco questions. "I mean, didn't you just say that there are flats available?" But Draco stands and throws away his cup so he can follow Charlie.

Charlie looks at the younger man. "I can, but I don't want to. It's dreadful trying to get permits for visitors to be allowed to visit anytime. I live off the reservation so I don't have to deal with that."

Draco accepts the answer without further protest. "Now, since this is a Wizarding flat…" he pauses, trying to find the right word, "…building, then why can't we Apparate there?"

"I like walking," Charlie states. "It helps me come down from the adrenalin high that comes with the job. Sometimes it works and other times," he grins, "well, when it doesn't, that's when I end up in the coffee shop, drinking coffee until I'm too tired to move."

"So you drink coffee – that's nothing but caffeine and sugar – until you get tired," Draco repeats. "That doesn't make any sense!"

Charlie just grins wider. "It doesn't have to make sense to you. It just has to make perfect sense to me, which it does," he says. "Besides, when you live on coffee as long as I have, you start having to drink a large quantity before it actually affects you."

Draco shrugs. "I don't drink coffee often. Usually, only after long-distance Apparations."

"You get sick Apparating?" Charlie questions.

Shaking his head, Draco replies, "No, I just like coffee after Apparating long distances."

"Oh. I don't Apparate much. I get sick when Apparating from room to room," Charlie informs him. "Bill, my older brother, is the same way. Fred and George love Apparating just to scare Mum, though. Don't know how they don't get sick."

As Charlie rambles about Apparation-sickness, Draco realizes just how much Charlie is a Weasley. And that should scare him, but, for some reason, it doesn't. Maybe because he's tired of abiding by his father's rule or because Charlie just overlooks his past and treats him like a decent human being. Either way, Draco finds that he enjoys the older man's presence, a lot more than he should.

**A/n – Written for Gamma's OTP Boot Camp Challenge. 5/50.**

**Prompt used: young.**

**A million thanks to kci47. This is about their second encounter. **

_**Please, please don't favorite without reviewing!**_


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